A mandatory prison sentence that erased incentive for drivers to flee fatal crashes applied to a recent Lancaster County case and at least one other here since its inception in 2014.

Kevin’s Law – named after a 5-year-old boy killed in a hit-and-run crash in Luzerne County – evoked a mandatory 3-year prison term for at-fault drivers who flee the scene of fatal crashes in Pennsylvania.

The state law went into effect in August 2014, impacting the felony charge of hit-and-run involving a fatality.

The law was drafted to match the mandatory 3-year prison penalty for intoxicated drivers who cause fatal crashes and, in turn, eliminate incentive for intoxicated drivers to flee the scene of a crash.

Prior to Kevin’s Law, hypothetically, an intoxicated driver who fled the scene of a fatal crash could avoid DUI prosecution and the penalties associated with a vehicular homicide while DUI conviction.

As part of sentence ordered Monday in Lancaster County Court, a judge applied the mandatory 3-year prison term for a hit-and-run charge against Kristopher Martinez-Roman. The judge ordered sentences for related charges to run consecutively.

In all, Martinez-Roman was sentenced to 6 to 19 years in prison.

The mandatory term also was ordered in 2015 when Brandon Bleecher was sentenced for leaving the scene of a crash which caused a pedestrian’s death in January of that year.

(There were no allegations or charges regarding DUI in either case.)

There have been other Lancaster County cases where drivers were taken into custody soon after fleeing the scene of a fatal crash and charged with DUI-related offenses, in addition to hit-and-run.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright